TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras, Courier Go Easily From Grass to Hard Court

Pete Sampras, the No. 1 player in the world, defeated Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark, 6-1, 6-4, Wednesday in his first match since Wimbledon at the $1.65-million Canadian Open in Montreal.

Jim Courier, No. 2 in the world, defeated fellow American Jeff Tarango, 6-4, 6-4, in a second-round match. Courier also was playing his first match since losing to Sampras in the Wimbledon final.

In the only upset of the second round, Richey Reneberg defeated seventh-seeded Mal Washington, his Davis Cup teammate, 6-3, 6-2.

No. 4 Ivan Lendl, No. 5 Michael Chang and No. 6 Petr Korda of the Czech Republic were all easy second-round winners. No. 3 Boris Becker struggled to defeat Canada’s Chris Pridham, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Conchita Martinez, weakened by a virus and jet lag, defeated Camille Benjamin, 6-0, 6-3, in the second round of the U.S. Women’s Hardcourt Championships at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

Martinez, a Wimbledon semifinalist from Spain, took a flight from Europe on Monday.

“I’m not feeling really well,” she said. “I still have to play much better.”

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Andrei Cherkasov eliminated second-seeded Karel Novacek, 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), in the opening round of the Dutch Open clay-court event at Hilversum, Netherlands.